I read the news about Peaches Geldof on Facebook last night. At first I thought it might be one of the fake death announcements that make their way around social media sites, but upon checking various news sites, I was shocked to discover it was, in fact, true.

Reading her father’s tribute made my stomach churn, then reading her husband’s brought about a feeling of such sadness for her beautiful little family, as well as the wider family she has now left behind, that I started to read more and more, trawling the internet and watching the news.

The news of Peaches’ passing has affected me in a way that I would never have imagined. I’m not a fan, I don’t follow her on social media, but I did recently watch the YouTube clip of her eloquently talking about attachment parenting on This Morning, defending her parenting skills to Katie Hopkins, and opening up about her family and her relationship. This side of Peaches was one that I admired, I had no real interest in her or her media presence before, but now she was relevant to me and my life, because we were both going through the same thing; Motherhood.

All of last night, I kept thinking about her two little boys, wondering where their mummy is, and the lump in my throat started to form. Some may think I’m being a little dramatic, after all, it is quite obvious that I don’t know her personally, but any mother, in fact, anyone with a heart, reading about yesterday’s tragedy was bound to feel some sadness and grief at this young girl’s passing.

All day, I have felt extremely anxious. Last night, I cried whilst looking through very recent pictures and videos of Peaches with her two sons on Twitter and Instagram. Crying? Yes, I was shedding a tear. For the extreme sadness I felt that this young woman won’t see her beautiful sons grow up. She won’t witness them starting school. She won’t ever again tuck them into bed. Nor will they ever be able to go to their mummy again when they are sad, frightened, hungry or thirsty. Looking through her pictures, I noticed similarities between our homes and daily routines. In the background of one photos sat the Fisher Price Jumperoo. Lylah spent hours in that thing; her boys must as well. She had videoed them in the bath, taking pictures of them splashing around and blowing bubbles. There were selfies, pictures of the pets and endless pictures of her smiling happy children. Yes, she was the daughter of Paula Yates and Sir Bob Geldof, yes she was a wild child teenager, yes she was a celebrity. But, most importantly, she was a mother, and that’s the part I can relate to.

The reaction to her death by some has astounded me, and that people can be so cruel and vile in these circumstances is astonishing to me. As some people have rightly said, things like this happen every day, and I’m fully aware that situations like this occur all the time without our knowledge. But she was in the public eye, therefore we do know about this one, and therefore it has provoked this reaction in me.

The thought of knowing that any family has to go through something like this is so upsetting, and when Lylah woke up this morning and cuddled me in bed, I was so thankful to God for my precious family, loved ones, and the small but important things in life. In a week where my parent’s have had sad news about the passing of a close family friend, the tragic story of a woman being knocked down and killed in a local town, and the untimely death of someone like Peaches, so young and in her prime with her whole motherhood and life ahead of her, I am very aware of the short time we have on this earth, and that we waste too much time sweating the small stuff.

Grab your loved ones, give them a hug, tell them you love them and be thankful for every second you spend together. Life is too short.